The latest group to join Moscow's battle with Chinese lanterns are the Cossacks. The paper lanterns, which float into the air when a candle is lit inside them, are popular in Moscow, but are considered to be a fire safety threat by city authorities.
The head of the Cossack volunteer fire safety brigade Igor Sokurenko said that Cossacks will patrol parks and will remind people that using the lanterns is prohibited in Moscow. The Cossacks will call the police if they detect violations of the Chinese lantern ban.
Sokurenko says that the late May and June are the most dangerous periods, when high school students celebrate their graduation. “During graduation time we will go into parks and put preventive measures in place,” he said.
“The lanterns are lit not just every day, but during graduation, on birthdays and on other holidays. Mostly young people do it. We will warn them against it. If they don’t comply, we will call the police,” says Sokurenko.
The paper lanterns with blazing candles inside can drift several kilometers in the breeze. Russian law prohibits use of such lanterns in cities and near the woods. Those who violate this law must pay a fine of up to 1,500 rubles ($28).
Moscow emergency services announced in late May that a Chinese lantern may have been the cause of a fire in Moscow’s Novodevichy Convent (a UNESCO World heritage site) in mid-March. According to another version of events, the fire started as a result of faulty electric cables.
Modern-day Cossacks identify as successors of those Cossacks who set up communities in the Russian Empire and served in the Tsar’s military. Today, there are many Cossack groups in Russia, and they do not always agree on who has the right to represent Cossacks. Several organizations which identity themselves as Cossacks sometimes carry out local policing functions.